Thursday, 26 November 2009

After watching a spate of rotten and over hyped movies like 'Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani', which should have been named 'Ajab Kahani' and the Saifeena starrer 'Kurbaan', I was really skeptical while watching 'Tum Mile'.

The movie starring Emraan smoochie hashmi and Soha Ali Khan turned out be surprisingly sensible. Set against the backdrop of Mumbai floods of 2005, the movie is out an out a romantic movie. People who go to watch it expecting it to be about nature's fury, will come out disappointed. Go watch the angrezi movie ' 2012' if you want to see large scale destruction (I found that movie too predictable and was actually trying to stay awake).

Even though I am not a big fan of Emraan Hashmi, his performance was super. He is quite restrained and mature in the movie. Soha was always a good actor but she always ends up picking the wrong movies. This movie gave her a lot of screen time to show her acting talent.

The chemistry between the two actors is good, the ups and downs in the relationship are very realistic. There is no faltu filmy hungama and rona dhona. There are not too many characters cluttering the scene to confuse you. The difference in financial status of Emraan- A struggling Artist and a Super Rich Soha is believable. The characters have been etched out so well that we empathise with their situation.

All the songs are wonderful. They are part of the movie and take the movie forward rather than acting as just fillers. Even though Smoochie Hashmi has given a lot of smooches in the movie, thankfully they just fade in the background because of his powerful performance.The director has put in the flashbacks really well. They do not confuse you.

The filming of the flood scenes is also good. Only drawback I felt was, that the 'Movie Promo' mislead the viewer into thinking that it is about the 'Mumbai Floods' and how people coped during that disaster. People, especially 'Mumbaikers' who have witnessed and experienced the horror of that day might feel cheated after watching the movie

'Tum Mile' is a completely feel good, mature and romantic movie. It is a complete 'Paisa Vasool' and a movie to make you feel good after you step out of the cinema. I would suggest you folks to definitely give it a look.

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

I clearly remember our first day in foreign land. Hubs and I were waiting at Heathrow for our connecting flight to Manchester. After a exhausting flight, some water and a cup of coffee was in order. That was the first time we transacted in Pounds.

In India, there is only one type of bottled water i.e. mineral water or 'Bisleri', a generic term used for any bottled water. After having collided with a rows of neatly stacked bottles of various names and shapes at the airport lounge, I committed a faux pas by picking up a bottle labeled 'Sparkling Water'. The name suggested water and that's what we wanted. It turned out to be fizzy water and with a heavy heart we had to buy another bottle of Water. This time though the bottle was scrutinized thoroughly to avoid making another error. It was quite painful to pay a lot of money for a teeny bottle of water. I could hear my brain whir, quickly converting the amount paid in pounds to Rupees and calculating the cost of bottle in Indian Currency. It was an enormous amount and we made the water last quite a while. The cost could have fed 4 people a nice vegetarian lunch.

My family knows me as a spender and not a saver. My father would have been extremely proud to see me in a misers uniform. When you put your entire savings on moving to a foreign country, its inevitable that you take care of the pennies and also the pounds.

The first few months in UK, I was a virtual walking and talking human calculator...every expense made was converted in Indian currency without wasting a second. Every purchase was followed by astonished exclaims about the cost and a quick comparison to India.

As the days passed, this phobia lessened but has still not gone away. In spite of spending 2 years away I still cannot get over this habit.

Monday, 16 November 2009

Sorry for being AWOL for a longish period. I had been undergoing Wodehouse Mania for some time. Ardent fans of this renowned author 'Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse' would have easily grasped the title of my Post.

'YouTube' has an excellent collection of 'Jeeves and Wooster' Series. For those blighters who are still unaware of what I am talking about here is a peek..

Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry have played the characters of 'Bertram Wooster' the upper class twit and 'Jeeves' his intellectually brilliant Valet with aplomb.

I have been reading P.G.Wodehouse books since my school days and they still invoke laughter in me even after having read them for the nth time. He had such a wonderfully funny language. And he named his characters with ridiculous names like 'Gussie Finknottle' , 'TuppieGlossop' and 'ChuffyChuffnell'.

Though Wodehouse has written about a lot of characters, 'Jeeves and Wooster' have always remained my personal favorites. Wodehouse was famous for his portrayal of aristocrats as buffoons and his books revolve around plots in which the upper class due to their negligent brain power get into scrapes and continue to worsen the situation with their dumb half-witted schemes to make the situation better.

Especially in the case of 'Bertram aka Bertie Wooster' where Jeeves pulls out Bertie from worst situations. Bertie is a rich chappie who has never worked in his life and spends his days playing the Piano or lunching at the 'Drones Club'. He is forever sent on missions to pinch things for his Aunt Dahlia from other aristocrats or is playing hookie to avoid his Aunt Agatha who makes his life miserable. His friends also blackmail him into doing things for them out of friendship.

Jeeves his valet is shown to be a man with razor sharp intelligence and an impeccable taste in clothes. He is in complete control of his rich, young employer's life. When Bertie gets into any unwanted social obligation, engagement to marry or legal trouble, Jeeves comes up with a subtle plan to save him.

My favourite has been the part in which 'Bertie' pinches the cow creamer for his Aunt Dahlia and all hell breaks loose.

Wodehouse's writing style is easy and you can actually imagine the things he describes in his books. Anyone who has read his books will agree with me that there is no other writer who has written rib tickling funny stories like Wodehouse. He is and will always be the master of FUNNY stories.